


Spring

by Stratagem



Series: What Could Be [7]
Category: The Gifted (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hope Proudstar - Freeform, JD Proudstar - Freeform, Prompt Fill, Thunderblink Family AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 13:50:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13009182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stratagem/pseuds/Stratagem
Summary: “Ah, not a step further.” Clarice held up her hands, warding off the two little swamp monsters standing on the porch before they could come into the cabin. She should’ve expected this since it had been so rainy that week and the kids had been cooped up indoors for too long. Waaay too long judging by the look of them.





	Spring

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “Get married, they said. Have kids, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.”
> 
> Takes place in the Thunderblink Family AU, after they’ve made a home in their new HQ! It’s an old abandoned summer camp in the Georgia mountains. JD is nine, Hope is five. Takes place after "Take My Hand."

“Ah, not a step further.” Clarice held up her hands, warding off the two little swamp monsters standing on the porch before they could come into the cabin. She should’ve expected this since it had been so rainy that week and the kids had been cooped up indoors for too long. Waaay too long judging by the look of them.

“JD started it,” Hope said, her lower lip poked out in a pout, “He put it on my face. I’m gross.” She was covered from head to toe in splotches of mud, which wasn’t like her. Hope wasn’t one of those kids who liked to get all dirty, so seeing her look like she jumped in a bog was surprising.

JD, on the other hand, looked totally in his element. “I thought we should practice camouflage,” he said, running a hand over his forehead. The half-dried mud clumped and smeared and when he flicked his hand, bits of dirt flew off his fingers. “We were playing hide and seek.”

“You could’ve played without swimming in a mud puddle,” Clarice said, her eyebrows knitting together as she considered her options. There was no way she was going to let the two of them come inside the cabin and cover it with mud, not when it was semi-clean. It was a hot, muggy summer day, so she could just march the two of them down to the river and dunk them a few times. Or get Maya to soak them with her hydrokinesis. Or wait, she had an idea…

“We didn’t, we just threw it. And it was more fun,” JD protested, “We won.”

“I want to take a bath,” Hope said, looking miserable.

“How did you manage to get so dirty, anyways?” Clarice said, almost reaching out to brush the mud off Hope’s cheeks.

“Aurora turned it into a mudball fight,” JD said, admiration in his voice, “Like a snowball fight—”

“But with mud,” Clarice finished, shaking her head, “You hooligans could’ve got it in your eyes, y’know. Bad idea.”

“I got it on my dress,” Hope said, as if that was just as terrible.

“I see that. It’s all over you.” Clarice nodded and then clapped her hands together. “Well, you’ve both won a trip to the garden. Let’s go.”

The two of them glanced at each other but must’ve decided to not push their luck by asking questions. Instead, they traipsed after her as she headed up the path from their section of cabins to the mess hall and the massive vegetable and herb gardens out beside it. Since getting supplies from town was hard, the Underground grew a lot of their own food. They also raised livestock and hunted deer, ducks, and other wildlife to supplement their food supplies.

“Get married, they said,” Clarice muttered under her breath, “Have kids, they said. It’ll be _fun_ , they said.”

“What’re we doing?” JD asked, grinning at some of the other mutants on the path as they passed by.

“We’re going to get you two cleaned off so you can take baths without destroying the cabin,” Clarice said.

“The mud’s cracking,” Hope said. Sure enough, little lines were appearing on the mostly-dried mud on her arms and legs.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be off soon,” Clarice said.

They trekked all the way up to the gardens and then over to the water spigot. One of the water hoses was still attached to the spigot, so Clarice grabbed the metal hook and pulled it up, letting the water flow. A moment later, crystal clear cold mountain spring water started flowing out of the hose, and the kids guessed what was coming next.

“No, it’s cold!” Hope said, stepping back, nearly tripping over her own feet.

“Mom, no way, that’s freezing,” JD protested. They all knew that while the river was cold, the water from the spring that fed this particular hose was especially icy.

“Good thing it’s so hot out,” Clarice said with a grin, and she turned the hose on the kids, sticking her thumb in the middle of the stream so it became a spray. They both shrieked and raced away, but Clarice chased after them. “Get back here!” She flicked her wrist and popped open a tiny portal. Another appeared over JD’s head, which soon got soaked when she pointed the hose at the portal closest to her. “There’s no escape! Accept your fate!”

“Mom!” JD flailed and jumped away while Hope shimmered and teleported herself farther away. Clarice flicked open a third portal and blasted a stream of water at her daughter.

“Hope, come back here. I mean it, you have to get clean.”

Hope held up her hands to fend off the water then ‘ported back over to Clarice in an array of purple and blue lights. “It’s cold,” she said, but she was smiling. It probably felt good since it was like a bazillion degrees outside. She danced around, wriggling as Clarice washed her down, getting the mud off her and her clothes. JD kept running back and forth, and every time he got close, Clarice would spray him. Soon they were all laughing and soaked through, even Clarice.

Clarice noticed John walking toward them before the kids did, but she pretended not to, hoping he hadn’t seen her spot him. She turned her back to him and looked down at JD and Hope, widening her eyes and then tilting her head back a little, indicating they should take a look. Both of them peeked past her and then took off at their dad, two small soaking wet cannonballs still half-covered in mud.

“Whoa, hey, wait,” John said, backing up, hands up and out, but Hope shimmered and jumped on him from behind while JD wildly launched himself into his arms, forcing him to catch him. “Clarice!”

“I didn’t tell them to do anything,” she said, but at the same time, she flicked open two new portals, “They did it on their own.”

John looked at the portal that had appeared over his head and then tilted his head to the side, a don’t-you-dare look on his face. Oooooh, but she did dare. She sprayed the hose right into the portal, allowing John to enjoy all the benefits of an unexpected ice cold shower.

He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering himself, and then he let out a yell and raced at her, carrying both of the kids like he had a couple kittens clinging to him. Clarice laughed and took off, but he caught up with her and started playfully wrestling her for the hose.

“Give it up, it’s mine now,” he said.

“Never!”

“Get him, Mom!”


End file.
